The Rangers secured their seventh Eastern Conference Finals appearance in franchise history Thursday night with a 5-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 at PNC Arena.
Trailing by two early in the third period, New York seemed destined for a third straight loss and a decisive Game 7 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. But Chris Kreider had other plans. The 12th year Blueshirt recorded a natural hat trick to put them ahead.
“That’s just a monster third period,” coach Peter Laviolette said at his post-game press conference. “He put it on his back and he really performed. It was more than him, but at the end of the day we had to score goals and that’s what he does.
“It was a pretty incredible performance from him.”
Kreider joined Ranger legends Mark Messier And Wayne Gretzky as the only three players in franchise history to score three goals in a single playoff period.
All-Star netminder Igor Shesterkin made some huge saves along the way and Barclay Goodrow added an empty-netter to ice the game and solidify New York’s spot in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Here’s how the NYC backpages responded…
